As soon as you
see the title ‘Mandodari’, your subconscious may nudge you to Google who is
Mandodari. Well, that’s quite okay with people who don’t get much into the
Indian mythology, even the knowers will have difficult time in coming to terms
with Mandodari. Is she a lesser-known personality from the epic Ramayana? Most
probably, yes.
Since the
school time, we have come across various versions of Ramayana in the form of
movies, documentary, books, comics, and so on. And there you certainly find
monotony – Rama is the hero of Ramayana. Well, what about villains, other cast
of characters and women other than Sita. They too are covered but not in that
impressive intensity. You need to rediscover and rethink about this timeless
epic tale from a different point of view. A story can have various points of
views and there can be differed narrations.
Coming to the
other side of the Ramayana, you will find Ravana, his kingdom Lanka, his
brothers, his sons, his wives and concubines in antapura, and there is this voice of Mandodari which you cannot
ignore. Before marriage she was a princess of Mayarastra kingdom in
Bhartavarsh. After marriage Mandodari was the first and favourite wife of
Ravana, also known as the queen of Lanka.
To many this
book may sound as another retelling of the Ramayana, well in reality Mandodari
by Manini J. Anandani, a mythological fiction, is a poignant story of Ravana’s
rise and fall in the presence of Mandodari.
As we all know
Rama, we are also aware of Ravana. He was a Parambhakta of Shiva and because of
that reason he bore great powers within himself. He gained expertise in
military weapons and medicine and in many more fields. Other than all virtues
and traits, he was way too ambitious and he proved this by discovering some
medicinal herbs that he incised beneath his naval in order to become immortal.
Post this operation, Mandodari noticed drastic changes in Dashaanan, another
name of Ravana.
Initially the
couple leads a good and meaningful life, all the time Mandodari thinks about love
for his husband Dashaanan. But soon she gets her first shock when Ravana for
the sake of political advancement begins marrying other women. As his territory
increases, antapura sees the rise in
female members. Dashaanan’s weakness for women worries Mandodari and soon it
comes that, through various circumstances, Ravana’s kingdom will fall because
of a woman.
She being a
wife to an evil husband and daughter-in-law of the Rakshas dynasty consistently
bears mental agony, sufferings, pain throughout the novel. Her ability to cope
up with the circumstances bravely makes her character stand tall and strong in
an otherwise notorious Lanka. Ravana’s arrogance and Mandodari’s pacifism weave
a perfect tapestry of myth and imagination.
Ravana gets
better treatment in the novel, it may sound offbeat to regular Ramayan fans, it
wasn’t deliberately done but a necessity to perfect the character of Mandodari,
as her one strict and salient characteristic was that she was in deep love with
Ravana. Well, that's quite obvious for a wife devoted to her husband.
The story is
not only about Mandodari and her husband. Well, there is a shocking mystery
with reference to Sita. Whose reincarnation was she? Was she a daughter of
Ravana and Mandodari? If so then why Ravana abducted her and longed to marry
her. Why did he fail in Sita’s Swayambar?
With so many
questions to be found inside this book, definitely this is an amazing book for
mythological lovers. Laced with beautiful language and riveting narrative,
Mandodari by Manini is a classic masterpiece. Here you get the whole Ramayana
but from a different perspective i.e. Lanka.
Love reading mythological re-telling,
well read about Draupadi's tale of love- https://goo.gl/VgK9WV
Excellently written,rarely known facts!!
ReplyDeleteVery captivating...finished it in two days. There is a twist in Chapter 14, I didn't know that there are versions of Ramayana where Sita is Mandodari's daughter. I Googled and came across so many versions that said so.
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